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Narayan Chandra Rana (12 October 1954 - 22 August 1996) was an Indian professor, writer, and former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomers (CIAA). [1]
Rana was born on 12 October 1954 in Sauri, a village in southern Midnapore, West Bengal, to parents Rajendra Prasad and Nakfuri Devi. He was a student at the local school, Sauri Bholanath Vidyamandir. At school, Manindra Narayan Lahiri, a graduate from Calcutta and avid sky watcher, who introduced Rana to astronomy. [2] Manindra Narayan's observation sessions would have Rana as his assistant well past midnight.
Rana attended the Presidency College, where he met the cosmologist Professor Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri.
Rana joined the TIFR, Bombay, in 1977, where he began his research in astrophysics with Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar. [3] His thesis was entitled "An investigation of the properties of intergalactic dust". Rana was awarded the INSA Young Scientist Award in 1983 and the Year’s Best Thesis award in the School of Physics, TIFR. [4]
In spite of non-cooperative health and recurrent problems with his pacemaker, Rana has left his mark in many branches of astrophysics and in amateur astronomy in India. He was the chairman of the CIAA. His project of measuring the diameter of the Sun during the total solar eclipse on 24 October 1995, involving a large team of young students, was a very challenging one.
Professor Narayan Chandra Rana died on 22 August 1996 in Pune, at the age of 42. [3]
He was a researcher at TIFR, Bombay, till 1991, after which he worked as a research professor at IUCAA, Pune. He worked as a director and member in many fields of astrophysics of national and international reputation.
In addition, he wrote about 70 research papers, many essays and lectures, and unfinished books and writings.
The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian universities. IUCAA is located in the University of Pune campus next to the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. IUCAA has a campus designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is an Indian Research Institute under the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is a public deemed university located at Navy Nagar, Colaba in Mumbai. It also has a campus in Bangalore, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), and an affiliated campus in Serilingampally near Hyderabad. TIFR conducts research primarily in the natural sciences, the biological sciences and theoretical computer science.
The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics is a research institution in India in the field of radio astronomy is located in the Pune University Campus, is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. NCRA has an active research program in many areas of Astronomy and Astrophysics, which includes studies of the Sun, Interplanetary scintillations, pulsars, the Interstellar medium, Active galaxies and cosmology and particularly in the specialized field of Radio Astronomy and Radio instrumentation. NCRA also provides exciting opportunities and challenges in engineering fields such as analog and digital electronics, signal processing, antenna design, telecommunication and software development.
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). He developed with Sir Fred Hoyle the conformal gravity theory, known as Hoyle–Narlikar theory. It synthesises Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Mach's principle. It proposes that the inertial mass of a particle is a function of the masses of all other particles, multiplied by a coupling constant, which is a function of cosmic epoch.
Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri was an Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology. His most significant contribution is the eponymous Raychaudhuri equation, which demonstrates that singularities arise inevitably in general relativity and is a key ingredient in the proofs of the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems. Raychaudhuri was also revered as a teacher during his tenure at Presidency College, Kolkata.
Yash Pal was an Indian scientist, educator and educationist. He was known for his contributions to the study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-builder. In his later years, he became one of the leading science communicators of the country.
Thanu Padmanabhan was an Indian theoretical physicist and cosmologist whose research spanned a wide variety of topics in gravitation, structure formation in the universe and quantum gravity. He published nearly 300 papers and reviews in international journals and ten books in these areas. He made several contributions related to the analysis and modelling of dark energy in the universe and the interpretation of gravity as an emergent phenomenon. He was a Distinguished Professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune, India.
The Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomers (CIAA) is a national level organisation of amateur astronomers in India that convenes a national meeting of members every year, and coordinates the activities of amateur astronomers throughout the country. It was established in 1993 and registered in 1994, following an Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics meeting in 1991.
Govind Swarup was a pioneer in radio astronomy. In addition to research contributions in multiple areas of astronomy and astrophysics, he was a driving force behind the building of "ingenious, innovative and powerful observational facilities for front-line research in radio astronomy".
Amol Dighe is a Professor of Physics in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. He studied in Saraswati Secondary School, Thane, Maharashtra up to 10th grade and attended D. G. Ruparel College for the next 2 years. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for science and technology, the highest science award in India, for the year 2013 in physical science category. His main research interest is in the area of high energy physics with focus on particles known as neutrinos, their nature and the role they play in astrophysics and cosmology. Dighe completed his BTech in Engineering Physics (1992) from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, MS and PhD (1997) from University of Chicago. Later he did postdoctoral research at ICTP, Trieste, CERN and Max Planck Institute before joining TIFR as a faculty member in 2003. He is a fellow the Indian Academy of Sciences and has won the Swarnajayanti Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Shashikumar Madhusudan Chitre FNA, FASc, FNASc, FRAS was an Indian mathematician and astrophysicist, known for his research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The Government of India honored him, in 2012, with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the sciences.
Roop Mallik is an Indian biophysicist who works on nanoscale molecular motor proteins that transport material such as viruses, mitochondria, endosomes etc. inside living cells. The motors, such as kinesin and dynein generate forces of pico-newton order to carry our various cellular processes namely cell division, vesicular transport, endocytosis, molecular tethering etc. His lab is working to understand how motor proteins help in degradation and clearance of pathogens, and also how these motors work inside the liver to maintain systemic lipid homeostasis in the animal. Mallik is currently a professor at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
Professor Ramakrishna Vijayacharya Hosur is an Indian biophysical scientist, known for his expertise in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular biophysics. The Government of India honoured him, in 2014, by awarding him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology.
Ramanath Cowsik is an Indian astrophysicist and the James S. McDonnell Professor of Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is considered by many as the father of astroparticle physics. A recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Cowsik was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri
Badanaval Venkatasubba Sreekantan was an Indian high-energy astrophysicist and a former associate of Homi J. Bhabha at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He was also a Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1904-1995) was an Indian physicist who made contributions in several branches of theoretical physics, notably statistical mechanics and ionospheric physics. He played a key role in setting up the Department of Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Delhi, which he headed for around nine years, and also was pro-vice-chancellor of the university. He was elected a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and was general secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, India.
Probir Roy is an Indian particle physicist and a former professor at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He is also a senior scientist of the Indian National Science Academy at Bose Institute and a former Raja Ramanna fellow of Department of Atomic Energy at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.
Vijay Kumar Kapahi was an Indian astrophysicist and the director of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, an autonomous division of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Known for his research on radio galaxies, quasars and observational cosmology, Kapahi was an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies – Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India – as well as of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to physical sciences in 1987.
Ajit Kembhavi is an Indian astrophysicist. He is presently a professor emeritus at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, (IUCAA) at Pune, India, of which he was also a founder member. He also serves as a vice president of the International Astronomical Union. He is the Principal Investigator of Pune Knowledge Cluster along with Professor L. S. Shashidhara.
Pankaj S. Joshi is an Indian astrophysicist and cosmologist whose research is mainly focused on areas of gravitational collapse and spacetime singularity. He has published more than 225 research papers in national and international journals, and books and monographs on the subject. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor of Physics, and founding director of the International Center for Space and Cosmology at Ahmedabad University.
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